The public will get another chance to weigh in on the $2.1 billion Keystone Pipeline Project, designed to transport petroleum from Alberta, Canada through eastern Nebraska and on to refineries in Illinois.

The U.S. State Department will hold a series of “scoping” meetings in communities along the proposed route to collect preliminary information for an environment impact statement or EIS.

“The purpose of these meetings is to give interested persons or parties a chance to raise — with the Department of State — any environmental issues,” said Dean Cowling, director of the pipeline project being built by TransCanada Corp.

In eastern Nebraska, the pipeline would cut through the following counties: Cedar, Wayne, Stanton, Platte, Colfax, Butler, Seward, Saline, Jefferson and Gage. The total distance in Nebraska is 211 miles. Company officials estimate the Nebraska portion of the project will cost about $284 million.

The Department of State  recently decided that the pipeline may have a significant impact upon the environment, and as a result, must meet the requirements of the National  Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the agency said in a news  release.

TransCanada has applied to the Department of State for a  “presidential permit” to build and operate facilities at the border to import oil from Canada to the United States.

  One of the NEPA requirements is the preparation of an EIS. The Department of State plans to look at how the proposed project will impact: geology and soils; water resources; fish, wildlife and vegetation; threatened and endangered species; cultural resources; land use, recreation and special interest areas including wetlands and flood plains; air quality and noise, socioeconomics; and reliability and safety.

The Keystone Pipeline Project would initially deliver 435,000 barrels of crude  oil per day. Additional pumping capacity would be added if market conditions warrant.

Cowling said that the although the Department of State will conduct the scoping meetings, it has hired an independent third party to undertake the EIS. He did not have a price tag but said TransCanada hopes to have the final EIS in hand by late 2007. Construction of the pipeline would begin in early 2008 with commercial operation slated for late 2009.

This is the second time, TransCanada officials have held meetings in the area. In April, the company hosted a meeting in Seward and answered questions from concerned landowners about the pipeline’s path,  safety and easements.

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.

Keystone Pipeline ‘scoping’ meetings

Two public meetings will be held next week in Nebraska to collect preliminary information for an environmental impact statement required by federal law. The purpose of the meetings, part a series in the U.S., is to raise any environmental or historic preservation issues with the Department of State, which is authorized to grant a special permit for the pipeline. The locations of the Nebraska meetings:

Oct. 25 — 7 to 10 p.m. at the VFW Meeting Hall in Stanton.

Oct. 26 — 7 to 10 p.m. at the Seward Civic Center Auditorium, 616 Bradford St., in Seward.

If you cannot attend a meeting, you can post a comment for the record at: www.keystonepipeline.state.gov. Note: The Web site won’t be operational until Oct. 20.

Written comments can be sent to: Elizabeth Orlando, OES/ENV, Room 2657, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., 20520.

For more information on the Keystone Pipeline Project visit: www.transcanada.com/keystone/index.html